Aggregate coater



Nov. 7, 1933. A. w. KNOX AGGREGATE COATER Filed Aug. 1, 1930 lllllllllll HHHJI ""=-H I /r1 venzor, KUexander 11 Knox,

Patented Nov. 7, 1933 AGGREGATaoo TEn-f' Alexander W. Knox, Indianapolis, Indg assignorto KennethE. McConnaughay, Indianapolis,

Ind.

Application August1, 193 0. ,Seiial Nb. 472,329 4 Claims. (01. 94-43) This invention relates to the art of preparing materials for road building and particularly to the asphaltic coating of aggregates. In certain types of roads heretofore built, it has been the 5 practice to lay down a layer of coarse aggregate such as crushed rock, sprinkle the layer from above with the asphaltic binder, roll the layer, lay down a second layer, and so on until the top layer of chips'is reached. By this method, the entire surface of each individual particle of the aggregate was not completelyfcoated and the lower part of each layer received too small amount ofthe binder to effect a waterproof roadway.

It isthe primary object of my invention to provide means whereby each and every particle of the aggregate, fine or large, is thoroughly coated with thebinder before being spread out in layers which may be rolled at once upon levelling without fur her treatment.

An important object resides in providing means for coating the aggregate in a simple compact form that will eliminate hand handling and that may be portable so as to permit its being operated directly at the railroad car from which raw aggregate is unloaded.

Another important object resides in providing means for the purpose indicated that will handle the aggregate in a continuous operation without requiring a large volume of binder to be maintained at the flowing temperature.

' A still further object is to provide means for draining off the excess binder from the aggregate particles before loading them for delivery to the roadway so as to prevent loss of the binder.

, These and other objects will become apparent in the following description of the invention with reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a side elevation of a structure embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view; and Fig. 3, a detail in top plan view of the baffle means for regulating the supply of aggregate.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views in the drawing.

I form a foundation frame 10 supported by the wheels 11, 12, 13, and 14, and at its rearend fix the upright standards 15 and 16 between the upper ends of which I pivotally swing the boom 17. Between the rails of the boom 17, I carry the spaced apart endless chains 18 and 19 about the sprockets 20 and 21 and mount buckets 22 transversely across the chains to form an endless conveyor. The boom 17 is mounted somewhat off center between the standards 15 and 16 to have the longerend forwardly thereof. r

. The forward endof theboom is normally held in the elevated position by the pair of legs 23, 24, each 01 which is pivotally attached by, their @0, upper ends to the respective side rails of the boom? 17, and by their lower ends to the frame 10. The legs- 23, 24! are eachin two sections pivoted one to the other and held in a straight line by pins 25, 26, through' the ends of the sections on each side of their central pivot points. A lowering and raising tackle 27 is provided with one end secured to one of the standards and the other end at the pivot axisof the legsections. Byremoving the pins 25, 26, the leg sections may foldone towardthe other as indicatedjby. the dash lines, Fig. 1, upon allowing. the tackle 27 to extend. Shortening the tackle 27, of course, returns the leg sections to, a straight line to rock the boom 17 accordingly. At-the rear end of [the frame 1 0 ,.is a vat 28. having rear and forward walls sloping down wardlytowardpne another with a rounded bot-. tomsection -therebetween. The forward end of, thevat ispivotally supported by the frame 10' by means of the transverse shaft 29 and an angle bar frame 30 supports the rear end from theground. The vat 28 and boom 1'7 are so proportioned that the buckets 22 are brought down from the under side of the chains to contact and scrape upwardly toward the rear across the bottom of the vat when the boom is in the elevated position, Upon lowering the boom 17, the vat 28 may be lifted upwardly by its rear end to swing it about the shaft 29 to clear the vat from the ground.

On the upper side of the vat 28 to the rear, is mounted a hopper 31, with a gate 32 slidably fitted across its under side. A hand lever 33 is pivotally mounted, Fig. 2, to open and close the gate. A baflie 34 depends to within the vat 23 and is provided with the side arms 35 as means to shift the baflle toward and away from the rear inclined wall of the vat 28 so as to vary accordingly the space between the vat wall and the under edge of the baffle.

Particular attention is directed to the buckets 22, in that they are perforated both sides and bottom so that liquids will not be retained therein at any position the buckets may assume. 10.5

In operating the device, the aggregate is dumped into the hopper 31. The desired binder, usually in heated form to render it liquid, is placed in the vat 28, and the chains 18 and 19 are set in motion by the power .plant 36 ;}9

through the chain drive 37 to the counter shaft 38, and the chain drive 39 from that shaft to the upper sprockets 21. The gate 32 is opened to allow the aggregate to dribble down from the hopper over the rear wall of the vat 28 toward the oncoming buckets 22. The baffle 34 is shifted to control the desired feed to the buckets.

The aggregate drops through the liquid binder in the vat 28 and is scooped up by the buckets 22 and as the buckets ascend over the boom, the liquid scooped up flows down through the aggregate in the buckets and drains through the holes therein to drop onto the floor of the housing 40, from over which the liquid flowsback down into the vat 28. The housing 40 completely encloses the conveyor buckets to retain the binder in a liquid condition by preventing the escape of heat. Steam may be supplied to withinthe housing when required.

At the top end of the boom, the buckets tip over to discharge into the downwardly sloping mixing chute 41 which is provided with a plurality of baflles 42 to cause the coated aggregate to roll back and forth during its course down the chute. A lip 43 is hinged at the end of the chute to be swung upwardly as desired to shut off discharge from the chute. It is therefore to be seen that I not only secure a thorough coating of the aggregate particles and drain off the excess binder, but that I elevate the coated aggregate so that it may be dumped from the chute into trucks for conveyance to the roadway without further handling.

I claim:

1. In a device for coating aggregate, a base mounted on wheels, a vat having front and rear walls sloping down toward each other, means for pivotably attaching the front end of the vat to the base, a frame supporting the opposite end of the vat, and a conveyor pivotably supported from and above the base with its lower end swingingly adjustable in the vat, said conveyor having a plurality of buckets with perforate walls, and a floor under the conveyor removable therewith, a hopper above the vat having a discharge to the vat, an adjustable gate in the hopper-discharge and a bafiie under the gate adjustable relative to the conveyor and adjacent end of the vat.

2. In a device for coating aggregate, a vat having rear and forward walls sloping toward each other and a rounded bottom connecting the walls, a conveyor having one end in the vat and having a plurality of buckets, said conveyor being swingingly adjustable to adjust the distance of the traveling buckets from the vat and to raise the conveyor out of the vat, a hopper above the vat containing uncoated aggregate which is discharged through the bottom of the hopper into the vat and a bafile adjustable in its distance from a wall of the vat to regulate the discharge of aggregate from the hopper.

' 3. In a device for coating aggregate, a vat having rear and forward walls sloping toward each other and a rounded bottom connecting the walls, a conveyor having one end in the vat and having a plurality of buckets, said conveyor being swingingly adjustable to adjust the distance of the traveling buckets from the vat and to raise the conveyor out of the vat, a boardunder the conveyor draining into the vat and adjustable and removable relative to the vat, means for supplying uncoated aggregate to the vat and an adjustable baifle cooperating with the supply means to regulate the supply therefrom.

4. In a device for coating aggregate, a vat having rear and forward walls sloping toward each other and a rounded bottom connecting the walls, a conveyor having one end in the vat and having a plurality of buckets, said conveyor being swingingly adjustable to adjust the distance of the traveling buckets from the vat and to raise the conveyor out ofthe vat, a housing around the conveyor adjustable and removable relative to the vat, a board carried by the housing and draining into the vat, means for supplying uncoated aggregate to the vat and an adjustable bafiie' cooperating with the supply means to regulate the supply therefrom.

ALEXANDER W. KNOX. 

